Throughout this section, you will explore chemistry and its branches, focusing on essential topics such as the storage of chemicals and laboratory safety. You will delve into the scientific method of inquiry, as well as key historical developments in atomic theory including Bohr’s model of the atom, Dalton’s atomic theory, J.J Thomson’s cathode ray tube experiment, and the Rutherford model of the atom.
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
1. Describe chemical processes around us and their applications in everyday life.
2. Discuss and explain safety rules and hazard symbols in the laboratory.
3. Explain why chemicals should be stored by compatibility and not alphabetically in the laboratory.
4. Investigate the scientific method of inquiry.
5. Identify the main postulates of Dalton’s atomic theory and explain the weaknesses of the theory.
6. Describe the cathode ray experiment and alpha particle scattering experiment and identify the weaknesses of J.J. Thompson and Rutherford’s models of the atom.
7. State the main postulates of Bohr’s planetary theory and explain the importance of the quantum numbers to the electron structure of the atom.
8. Apply Aufbau’s principle, Pauli’s exclusion principle and Hund’s rule of maximum multiplicity to write the electron configuration of the first thirty elements of the periodic table.
9. Describe radioactivity, and the properties of radiations and compare isotopes based on their stability as well as their applications in everyday life.